BitMEX On The Ropes – Has COO Angelina Kwan Quit?

BitMEX is down but not out – yet. The global futures trading platform that allows its users to trade digital assets is facing a turbulent time, and opponents on all fronts.

Arthur Hayes, the company’s CEO is currently “off grid”, rumors are mounting about a possible investigation into the business from the US Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the UK advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently upheld complaints over an advert BitMEX placed, saying it misled potential investors.

Now, speculation is mounting that the company’s chief operating officer Angelina Kwan has also quit her role at the troubled company, as it emerged that her LinkedIn page did not show any reference to her role at BitMEX, a job she started almost a year ago, in November 2018.

Employed to help BitMEX to collaborate with watchdogs around the world, it may be that faced with mounting opposition of the platform from regulators, and a sudden outflow of customer investment from the exchange that she has decided to part ways with the firm.

A respected operator in the Hong Kong financial world, Kwan worked for eight years at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), where she worked as a director of market supervision and director of enforcement.

BitMEX customers pulling out of the platform

Reports have been circulating in the past week that more and more customers are taking their money out of BitMEX and seeking alternative exchanges to trade on.

Popular crypto publications have reported research that shows that July 2019, was officially the worst that BitMEX had ever had in terms of the outflow of bitcoin.

Researchers, Fork Monitor, said 50,000 BTC had left the exchange in July, equating to around $500 million, based on the major crypto asset’s price at the time.

This comes on top of earlier research from Token Analyst which seemed to suggest 40,000 bitcoin had been taken off of the platform.

The major withdrawal of funds comes alongside reports that the CFTC is investigating BitMEX over allegations it wilfully let US citizens trade on the platform, despite them not being allowed to do so and the exchange not being registered with it.

Where’s Arthur?

On top of the mounting pressure, CEO Hayes, has been uncharacteristically quiet on Twitter, with speculation that his so-called Tangle in Taipei with noted crypto hater Nouriel Roubini attracted the wrong sort of attention from watchdogs like the CFTC.